Thaddeus spun, his dagger sinking into the Fae’s temple. He back-stabbed the sword into another Fae’s stomach, shoving the blade upward until it pierced out his back. Rori skidded to a halt, her eyes widening, lips parted on a gasp.
Magic slammed into Thaddeus’s gut, sending him to the ground, sliding over the cement.
Another Fae appeared out of thin air. His cruel mouth curled into a snarly grin, gold and grey gaze locked on her. He wove his fingers together, pulled them apart, and drew between his hands dozens of strands of pulsing black strands that hissed and sizzled.
The Fae chuckled. “This shan’t hurt but a wee bit.”
Rori stumbled back, away from her prospective end. She shot Thaddeus a desperate glance, but he was fighting off the last Fae left standing with his bare hands. Whywasn’t he using magic? Why wasn’t he trying to save himself?
She whimpered, spun, and slammed into yetanotherevil Fae. This one laughed quietly, his hand snapping up to her throat and squeezing.
A flashback of Rich pinning her to the van, choking the very life from her body sent her spiraling into sheer panic. Her thoughts narrowed to one thing: survive. She grabbed at the fingers around her throat, prying at a vise that did not budge. His grip slowly crushed her throat, cutting off oxygen to her lungs, making her vision pulse and her heart race wildly.
Her captor turned her toward the Fae with the black strands of magic.
His cruel smile grew, his eyes flashing with satisfaction.
He raised his hands.
A plume of bright light and a rush of air blinded her. When the flashing lights dimmed from her vision, she stared upon Thaddeus, his beautiful face twisted, his lips peeled back in a snarl, his eyes narrowed on the beast behind her. The beast who, she only just realized, no longer held her throat, but gurgled at her back.
With jerky movements, she turned to the other Fae. Vines of icy white magic coiled up his body, constricted around the Fae, each lethal thorn no shorter than four inches stabbing into him at multiple points. Blood oozed from the wounds, staining his clothes and skin. The vines wrapped around his throat and tightened. Tightened until his face turned red.
Thorns grew from the stems and slowly, torturously, pierced down into his neck.
Rori blinked several times, shock slowing her reaction. She instinctively clawed at her own throat, feeling his hand around her neck.
Fae.
Rich.
Choking her…to death.
“You took the wrong Fae for a fool, Linden.”
The quietly spoken words delivered a deadly threat, but fear had already hooked its claws into Rori. She gasped, stumbled, fell to her knees. Fought to breathe. Her throat. She couldn’t breathe.
“Nothing will stop me from taking you back.”
Fear suffocated her as she crawled aimlessly over the ground.
“You belong to me!” He fisted her hair at her nape and snapped her head back, forcing her to look up at him. Rage turned his face maroon, lit his dark eyes into a venomous pit. He shoved her into the room, to the kitchen table, and slammed her down, folding her over the side and driving the edge into her ribs. She cried out, trying to push up, but his brute strength over her pinned her firmly, cheek squished to the wood, as he tore down her pants. “I’ll make sure you remember every fucking time you leave this apartment who you belong to.”
“No-no-no,” she wheezed, swatting at the air around her head. “Stop!”
Her body flew upward, off the ground, into the cradle of strong arms, but her past possessed her mind. She writhed and twisted, trying to break free of Rich’s hold. His…his…
She frantically looked around, seeking help. Who would help her in his apartment? Who would save her from her own nightmare?
The scene around her flickered in and out, her apartment, the bar, the kitchen table.
Cael burst out of the bar, eyes wide.
Her captor spun her around. Darkness pressed in on her, the pressure of the world collapsing.
Then, it vanished.
She bounced in the plush cushions of a sofa. She shot up and fought, swinging her arms to ward off Rich, to keep him away. Anything to escape!
